When you see people actually enjoying Bible study and clean Christian fellowship, do you wonder why they would so use their time and energies? When you see Christians who are bold enough to hand out Gospel literature to others, and even preach Christ on the streets, do you not ask yourself, " Why would those people be so willing to take the scorn and ridicule of the public?"

Perhaps, Friend, you don't sense the closeness, presence or reality of a personal Savior from your sin and condemnation. Perhaps you don't know what it means to have been redeemed and delivered from eternal doom in Hell. You may have a church affiliation. You may have religious exercises. Someone may demand your money in the form of tithes and offerings. But yet perhaps God is not real enough to you so that you would want to be publicly identified as a child of God, a disciple of Jesus Christ and one waiting for Christ's return. 2 Corinthians 13:5 challenges thus, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"

I have some questions for you, Dear Reader:

If your form of "Christianity" is not important enough to be the major topic of joyful conversation at your restaurant table, then why is it worth your attention on Sunday mornings at a building you call a "church?" Why would you sacrifice your hard-earned money to a religion in which you take no joy when meeting with your friends, classmates and co-workers? Is not your religion a dead one? (Ephesians 5:14; Hebrews 6:1; 9:14) It extends no hope to others around you. Do you not see the hopelessness and confusion of the thousands in the shopping malls and on the city streets? What you might tell me is your tradition passed down from your forefathers is not improving the plight of any individuals with whom you sojourn in this life. Nor is your family's religious tradition preparing your family or acquaintances to meet God! Your Bible remains closed. Your knees don't bend in prayer. Your witness for a "Jesus" whom you claim gives you comfort in distress is silent. Maybe your "Jesus" is actually only a vague impersonal philosophy or superstition (2 Corinthians 11:4).

Do you not know that our Lord Jesus Christ, that is, the Christ revealed in the Scriptures (the Bible), is a real living Person? (Romans 1:4; Hebrews 13:8; Revelation 1:18) Do you not know that He indwells those who have received Him as their own Personal Savior from sin? (Romans 5:5; 8:9; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 3:17) Our Lord is not a religion. Our Savior is not a set of rituals to be learned and practiced on a schedule. Mere ceremonial religion is something practiced by persons who are spiritually dead; by persons who are still empty and seeking. Mere ceremonial religion is for people who are afraid to die! (Hebrews 2:14, 15) Biblical Christianity, on the other hand, is the fruit of the Living Vine, Jesus Christ, in the branches-living Christians (John 15:1-8).

This is why, though you wonder, true Biblical Christianity is seen manifesting itself in a public witness (Mark 16:20; Read the Acts of the Apostles). True Christianity has never been confined to four-walled buildings, nor can it ever be. True Christianity manifests itself in a genuine interest in the eternal well being of the souls of others (2 Corinthians 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:34; Mark 16:15). True Christianity reveals itself in a motivation to glorify and magnify Jesus Christ in a world of people who are wandering rebels against God (Romans 12:1, 2; 1 Corinthians 10:31). True Christianity always exposes and rebukes sin, sin which offends the holy nature of God (Ephesians 5:11). True Christianity publicly points to God's Lamb, His dear Son, the Lord Jesus as the one and only remedy to man's sin problem (John 1:29; 36).

True Christianity, as revealed in the Scriptures (the Bible), requires no priests on earth-but only the Lord Jesus Christ, our High Priest (Hebrews 3:1; 4:14, 15; 5:5; etc.). True Christianity requires no buildings of cement, stone or wood. God's children compose the building that God is building (1 Corinthians 3:9; Ephesians 2:21). True Christianity requires no rituals or religious form (Colossians 2:8-17; etc.).

And yet, Christianity, as found in the Bible, will always have a public witness (Read the Book of Acts). This witness will always be misunderstood by the world around it, because the world is at enmity against God and His Son (Romans 8:7; James 4:4). It is the Son of God Who lives in the Children of God, so the world will always scorn, ridicule, shun, and often persecute God's witnessing children. If you scorn the public witness of Christ, it is because you are still of this world (1 John 2:15-17).

But a true child of God is not afraid of the world's scorn. He has peace and joy; he has an excitement about the Lord's soon return (Romans 15:13; 2 Timothy 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 10).

So, you will see God's children studying the Bible, praying, witnessing, preaching, singing and worshipping in many public establishments, on the street corners, at the bus stations, at the airport, in the work place, in the classrooms, in the hospitals, and everywhere.

Wouldn't you like to have the joy, peace and confidence of a genuine child of God?

You must first confess that you are not a child of God, but are instead a sinful rebel against Him (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:10, 23; etc.) Secondly, you must see that Christ died for your sins, paying the full penalty for them, and that this payment is entirely sufficient (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; 1 John 2:2; 4:10; etc.). There can be no other means of salvation (John 14:6). Thirdly, you must abandon and repudiate your hope in anything other than Christ and His work on Calvary (Yes, you must repudiate your tradition and your hope in any religion; your idolatry; your creeds) You must believe on Christ alone, as revealed in the Scriptures (the Bible) as your Personal Savior from your sin and condemnation (2 Timothy 2:25).

The Scriptures themselves (the Bible) have the answers, and it is our purpose to introduce people to personal study of them. The Scriptures will point you to the Lord Jesus Christ, and not to a religious leader or religious organization (John 5:39). The Scriptures will admonish Christians to assemble with other Bible-believing Christians (Hebrews 10:25; 1 Timothy 3:16), but the Scriptures will never name one particular church, denomination, organization or movement through which salvation is channeled. Salvation is in the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, secured by His having offered Himself as the offering for sin that completely satisfied (propitiated) God the Father in the judgment of and payment for our sins (Isaiah 53:11; Romans 3:19-28; etc..).

Read the Bible passages referred to in this tract, humble yourself and get honest before God, and ask Him to help you by His Holy Spirit. Repent and "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,..." (Acts 16:31).

If you need a copy of the Scriptures (the Bible), or counseling regarding your soul's salvation or any other issue, feel free to contact: